Holy Pilgrimage - Hindu temples in New Zealand
ISKCON, Auckland, New Zealand
(The Hare Krishna
Movement)
Address: 1229 Coatesville-Riverhead Highway, Riverhead, New Varsana, Auckland, New Zealand – 0892
Phone: +64 (09) 3007585, +6 (09) 4128075
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare” and be happy.
Welcome to the Hare Krishna Movement, ISKCON Auckland,New Zealand
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was incorporated in New York in 1966. However, it is not a new religion. Its founder, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, represents a tradition tracing back to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. And Chaitanya Himself appeared in a succession of teachers dating back thousands of years in India. This lineage, called the Brahma-Madhva Gaudiya sampradaya, is one of the four principle traditions of Vaishnavas, those who worship Lord Krishna or Lord Vishnu as supreme.
The Hare Krishna
Temple Auckland
The Krishna Temple and farm is
located in between the Haupai Golf Course and the upper reaches of Waitemata
Harbour. Just twenty minutes drive from Auckland’s central business district,
this picturesque one hundred acre property is nestled amongst orchards, farms,
and multi-million dollar mansions on the scenic Riverhead-Coatesville highway.
As the centrepiece of the
farm, the remarkable Sri Sri Radha-Giridhari Temple complex has been
captivating visitors ever since it opened in 2004. The temple is at every step
a wonderful spiritual experience, from its ornate altar, to its finely crafted
doors, large oil paintings, and wonderful Orissan stained-glass windows.
Surrounding the temple, the
farm maintains many interesting animals, native bush, fruit trees, ponds,
numerous living quarters, and even a primary school.
The Auckland Deities moved to this farm property, New Varshana, in 1978. While the new temple was being planned and built the Deities took up Their residence in the farmhouse near the entrance to the property. They were worshipped there for twenty-five years .
Local Mayor, John Law, together with many ISKCON leaders and personalities from around the world officiated at the opening of this temple in 2004.
Sri Sri Radha Giridhari temple was opened on 18th January 2004. The Deities (Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, Sri Sri Radha Giridhari, and Their Lordships Jagannatha Baladeva Subhadra) had previously been installed by the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
What is the Hare
Krishna Philosophy?
The term “Hare Krishna”,
or The Hare Krishna Movement™ Organization, formally The
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), is the orthodox core
of Hinduism. It was registered in the West (in New York) in July 1966, but
dates back over 5000 years. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486-1532) popularized
the movement all over India. Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion
with over 900 million adherents, second to Christianity and Islam (according to
various leading encyclopedias, websites and almanacs). The principal scriptures
are The Bhagavad-gita (The Song of God), and the Shrimad
Bhagavatam (the story of the Personality of Godhead Shri
Krishna Bhagavan). Krishnas believe in one God.
The basic Hare Krishna beliefs can be summarized as follows:
1. By sincerely cultivating true spiritual science, we can be free from anxiety and come to a state of pure, unending, blissful consciousness in this lifetime.2. We are not our bodies but eternal, spirit souls, parts and parcels of God (Krishna). As such, we are all brothers, and Krishna is ultimately our common father. We accept the process of transmigration of the soul (reincarnation).
3. Krishna is eternal, all-knowing, omnipresent, all-powerful, and all-attractive. He is the seed-giving father of all living beings, and He is the sustaining energy of the entire cosmic creation. He is the same God as The Father Allah, Buddha and Jehovah.
4. The Absolute Truth is contained in the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in the world. The essence of the Vedas is found in the Bhagavad-gita, a literal record of Krishna’s words.
5. One can learn the Vedic knowledge from a genuine spiritual master — one who has no selfish motives and whose mind is firmly fixed on Krishna.
6. Before one eats, one offers to the Lord (Krishna) the food that sustains all humans; then Krishna becomes the offering and purifies the offered.
7. One performs all actions as offerings to Krishna and does nothing for one’s own sense gratification.
8. The recommended means for achieving the mature stage of love of God in this age of Kali, or quarrel, is to chant the holy names of the Lord. The easiest method for most people is to chant the Hare Krishna mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
Founder’s Statement
Kolkata-born A.C. Bhakitivedanta Swami (1896-1977), also known as Shrila Prabhupada, who founded The Hare Krishna Movement™ in New York in 1966, wrote a statement that was used in the religion’s initial incorporation. This statement is still relevant for ISKCON, and sometimes serves as a Mission Statement. It reads as follows:The Seven Purposes of ISKCON.
1. To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all people in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.
2. To propagate a consciousness of Krishna ,as it is revealed in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam.
3. To bring members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the Prime Entity, thus to develop the idea within the members, and humanity at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the qualities of Godhead (Krishna).
4. To teach and encourage the sankirtan movement (congregational chanting of the holy name of God) as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
5. To erect for the members, and society at large, a holy place of transcendental pastimes dedicated to the personality of Krishna.
6. To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler, more natural way of life.
7. With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My
humble salutations to the great devotees
, wikisources and Pilgrimage tourist guide for the
collection)
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